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Hillel Assists Katrina Survivors
October 21, 2005Comments (0) | Add | E-mail this to a friendThe floodwaters have receded in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast, but Hillel is still at work helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina. And that assistance will increase dramatically in the near future as Hillel students from across North America travel to the region to provide hands-on relief.
When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in late August, Hillel students and professionals were among the first to respond to the needs of the local community. Local groups and international Hillel raised tens of thousands of dollars for relief through such programs as Columbia/Barnard Hillel's "Get a Life, Save a Life" auction in which students "bid" for dates -- and raised $8,000 for hurricane relief.
Students flooded out of Tulane and other New Orleans schools were welcomed by Hillels at Johns Hopkins University, Syracuse, and elsewhere. Hillel worked with the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli government to help displaced students enter Israeli universities. The staff of New Orleans Hillel is keeping their student community connected through constant communication and through a "reunion road trip" in which they will visit groups of New Orleans students who have relocated to other campuses.
"I want to thank Hillel for starting to reach out to the communities that are providing opportunities for these displaced students who have been scattered around the country," wrote Karen Hoffman, the parent of a Tulane freshman. "The feeling of 'disconnect' that these students are feeling makes them feel like they're in no man's land. Any outreach that is being done by Hillel to help these students feel connected -- whether to their school or to the Jewish community of college students, is so greatly needed and appreciated!"
Hillel student volunteers from Houston and New York University worked with Katrina evacuees in the Houston Astrodome in the aftermath of the storm. After her first day volunteering, NYU student Jill Goldstein reflected on her experience: "Now is this time, if there ever was, to put words into actions. No action is too little. This really is an instance where every smile counts. Seeing with your own eyes is powerful, but doing with your own hands, that is a life-changing experience."
Many lives will change this winter and spring as hundreds of Hillel students travel to the region to help communities rebuild. Weinberg Tzedek Hillel, Hillel's public-service and social-justice initiative, is partnering with the Urban League, Southern Mutual Help Association and Nechama: Jewish Response to Disaster, to arrange volunteer opportunities in Louisiana and Mississippi.
"Hillel's mission is not just to enrich the lives of Jewish college students, but to enrich the Jewish people and the world," explains Hillel International President Avraham Infeld. "We see this relief work not as an act of charity, but as an act of tzedek, social justice, that is central to who we are as an organization and as members of the Jewish community."
Help fund Hillel's relief efforts.
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